Position creates an offer
The same sentence can feel distant, private, exposed or inviting when the speaker changes location.
Rice Cookie Improv · Workshop led by Max
Nine stage zones make the invisible part of public speaking visible.
I led this workshop for Rice Cookie Improv to explore how space changes a message. Participants kept the words similar and changed position, giving the group something concrete to observe.
- Facilitator
- Max Grillo
- Setting
- Rice Cookie Improv workshop
- Theme
- Space, presence & audience connection
The workshop question
What changes before the speaker changes a word?
I divided the available stage into a three-by-three grid. Instead of teaching nine fixed meanings, I used each zone as a hypothesis: a place might feel distant, central, intimate, exposed or inviting depending on the room and the moment.
A speaker repeated a sentence from different positions. Other participants described what they actually noticed before trying to explain it. That separation between observation and interpretation kept the feedback specific.
The stage is already speaking. The practice helps the presenter choose what it should say.
What became observable
Three practical discoveries from the room.
Movement needs a reason
Continuous pacing creates activity. A deliberate move can mark a real change in thought or relationship.
Stillness carries information
Arriving in a position and staying there gives the audience time to register both the body and the idea.
One exercise from the workshop
Three Directors.
One speaker talks about a neutral topic. Three directors interrupt in turn and choose a new zone. They change the picture, not the speech.
- 01
Mark a simple three-by-three grid and begin with the speaker in the centre.
- 02
Each director calls freeze, assigns another zone and lets the same talk continue.
- 03
Observers describe changes in attention, distance, authority or invitation without judging the speaker's personality.
- 04
The speaker repeats the talk using three intentional positions: opening, tension and key message.
Responsible boundary
The zones are a creative map, not a universal psychological law. Room shape, accessibility, culture, lighting and camera framing all change how space is read.
Workplace transfer
Use space to support meaning.
- Choose an opening position that welcomes the audience.
- Move when the thought or relationship changes.
- Use stillness when a decision needs clarity.
- Reduce distance when inviting reflection or questions.
What I do not claim
Presence is contextual.
- One position is not automatically powerful.
- Movement does not replace useful content.
- A workshop is not a personality assessment.
- Online and seated formats need a different spatial map.
Full exercise and reflection
Read the complete Nine Stage Zones article.
The article explains all nine zones, the public speaking application, the Three Directors exercise and the limits of the model.
Read the articlePublic speaking through practice
What should the audience notice before you say more?
I can adapt this exploration for speakers, leadership groups, schools, communities and event audiences.